1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing an inkjet recording medium of which the ink absorbing layer is formed using a transfer roll coater.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Inkjet recording method involves ejecting small droplets of ink using various mechanisms and forming images and letters by allowing the droplets onto a recording medium such as paper. This recording method has become phenomenally popular in homes since it readily performs at high speed and provides full color prints, less noisy in printing, and the printing devices are inexpensive. In commercial applications, non-impact printing (NIP) has been previously used to print variable information (invoices and receipts for public fees and credits, shipping bills, advertisements and the like), and high speed inkjet printers having a line head recently started to replace existing methods.
The recording medium used for inkjet recording is roughly classified into a non-coated paper type on which an ink absorbing layer containing a pigment has not been formed and a coated paper type on which an ink absorbing layer containing a pigment has been formed. The less expensive non-coated paper is ordinarily used for home page printing and business reports and the coated paper that can reproduce high resolution images is used to print outputs from digital cameras and the like.
Especially, the inkjet recording comes to have various uses, and a coated paper type inkjet recording medium that can be printed on both sides and can reproduce high resolution images inexpensively is needed. In order to improve productivity and reduce the cost of inkjet recording medium production, a technology that enables the use of an on-machine coater is urgently needed.
In addition, offset printability is also needed in an inkjet recording medium since, in some cases, backgrounds (borders, logo marks and the like) are printed first using offset printing before inkjet printing is used.
As a technology for manufacturing an inkjet recording medium using an on-machine coater, a technology in which an inkjet recording paper that can be printed using an offset printing method is manufactured using an on-machine coater (see, for example, Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication(Kokai) 2002-127587) and a technology for manufacturing an inkjet recording paper having the feel of non-coated paper (see, for example, Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication(Kokai) Hei 4-219267) have been disclosed. In addition, as a technology to manufacture general purpose printing paper at high speed, a technology to manufacture a coated paper for printing using a gate roll coater (see, for example, Unexamined Japanese Patent Publication(Kokai) Hei 6-25997) has been disclosed.